By Claudia Assis

Hess and hedge fund Elliott Management have been sparring in recent months, with both sides putting forth their slate of board candidates for the May annual meeting.

Regardless of the proxy fight’s outcome, however, Elliott will remain “an active shareholder” given its hefty investment in Hess limiting any downside for the company, Barclays said.

Hess has moved to become a pure exploration and production play and if the restructuring efforts are successful Hess will continue to outperform other energy stocks and the broader market indexes. If such efforts fail in the next year, Elliott is likely to launch a new proxy fight for 2014, which would lead to more action to help unlock value at the firm, Barclays added.

The investment bank also upped its year-end price target on Hess to $86 a share from $82 a share. Shares of Hess traded Monday at $68.

Hess reports first-quarter results on Wednesday. Analysts expect earnings of $1.54 a share, compared with $1.20 a share in the previous quarter and $1.50 a year earlier.

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